Friday, October 26, 2018

This Is Halloween, This Is Halloween. Actually, Halloween isn’t until next Wednesday, but it’s not too soon to plan your holiday fun. The October issue of Streetwise, which you can buy from vendors in the downtown area, has two pages of suggestions for scary stuff.

The Auditorium Theatre will offer Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas 25 Years on Halloween night and November 1. The screening will be accompanied by The Chicago Philharmonic.

The Music Box Theatre on Southport will have midnight screenings of Rocky Horror Picture Show tonight and tomorrow, as well as at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday and 11:00 p.m. on Halloween.

I’m not sure how scary she can be, but British singer/actress Lily Allen will be performing at The Vic on Halloween.

The Innertown Pub in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village has a Halloween version of its weekly New Wave Wednesdays coming up on October 31. DJ Skid Licious will be spinning vintage vinyl and the club’s Facebook page promises “Musical tricks and treats all night long!!!” Costumes are encouraged.

And as I mentioned earlier this week, Halloweekend runs this Friday and Saturday at Montrose Saloon. The line up features Ellis Clark and Ary Jeebie as Alice Cooper; Phil Angotti as Chris Isaac, Rachel Drew as Blondie; Tiberius Strange as Boston; Hollow Men as The Cult; Androgynous Mustache as Kenny Loggins; Boudoir Heroes as Cream; Mammal as Zombie Buddy Holly; I Lost Control as Interpol; and Statutes of Liberty as MC5. There will also be a costume contest. The music starts at 9:00 p.m. each night, admission is $15.

Tickets went on sale today for the David Bowie tribute band Sons Of The Silent Age at Metro on January 12; Albert Lee at SPACE on February 7; Sonny Landreth and Marcia Ball at SPACE in Evanston on March 1; and Jeff Lynne’s ELO at United Center on June 27.

The October issue of Chicago monthly publication New City features its annual Best Of Chicago choices.

Love, Gilda, director Lisa D’Apolito’s heartfelt documentary honoring Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner will be screened at The Gene Siskel Film Center November 2 through November 8.

Chicago-based rock critic Jessica Hopper will be promoting her new memoir Night Moves at the Empty Bottle club this Monday, October 29, and will join José Olivarez at the Chicago Humanities Festival on November 4.

Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde—that’s one half of Peter and Gordon and one half of Chad and Jeremy—have a gig coming up at City Winery Chicago on November 6. I saw them perform at Fest For Beatles Fans this past August, and was thoroughly impressed with their terrific harmonies, sense of humor, and terrific stories about the English entertainment scene from their childhood and the swinging 1960s.

The Party’s Just Beginning, the directorial debut from Guardians Of The Galaxy/DoctorWho star Karen Gillan was screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival today.

The Chicago Toy Show returns to the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles this Sunday. In addition to having a massive selection of toys from various decades, The Midwest Garrison Of The 501st Legion Star Wars costuming organization will be on hand to pose for photos.

I dropped by the Reckless Records location on Madison in downtown Chicago yesterday, and was happy to see their selection of vintage seven-inch singles is still highly suited for treasure hunting. I picked up a picture sleeve copy of The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend The Night Together”/“Ruby Tuesday,” and there were interesting new additions from the last time I visited. Come November 23, Reckless Records will be my go-to place for Black Friday Record Store Day.

Something I found out about while my wife and I were visiting Ireland recently: Murder One - Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival runs November 2 – 4 at the historic Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. There will be workshops and special events involving several well-known authors.

Film director (and one-time Cleaning Ladys band member) John Anderson will be at the Gene Siskel Film Center November 9, 10, and 11 for screenings of his new documentary Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story. There will be a discussion with the audience on each of those occasions, as well as special guests to be announced later. Horn From The Heart will run at The Gene Siskel Center through November 15.

Long-time Lincoln Park store The Book Cellar will host An Evening With Jeff Tweedy at The Music Box on Southport on Sunday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. Tweedy, well-known frontman for Wilco, will be discussing his new memoir Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back).

Much of the October edition of Chicago-based Latin publication Contra Tiempo is devoted to the city’s punk rock scene. In addition to a number of articles, there are over 10 pages of vintage black and white photos of punk performances in the Pilsen neighborhood.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.